Ohio House may again debate divisive voter photo ID issue

Legislators in the Ohio House may again debate the merits of requiring voters to verify their identity with a photo ID when they go to the polls.Courtesy Ohio Statehouse photo archive / Photo by the Ohio Channel-Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Legislation to require voters to show a photo ID at polling places, a divisive issue leading up to the 2012 election in Ohio and across the nation, appears ready to make a return appearance in the Ohio House.

Rep. Mike Dovilla, chair of the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee, says there is interest among House Republicans for such legislation. He doubts he will sponsor it, but acknowledged it likely would go through his committee.

"I suspect that there remains interest in a bill of that nature," Dovilla, a Berea Republican, said Wednesday. "We think there is broad support in the public."

Similar legislation moved through the House in 2011. It required voters show a photo identification at polling places to verify their identity. The acceptable forms of ID were driver's licenses, state issue ID cards, passports and military identification cards.

In Ohio, as in other states where the issue was debated, supporters touted the laws to ensure voting integrity and thwart voter fraud. Opponents made equally passionate cries of voter suppression.

Republicans hold strong majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate and could push through legislation now. But if it is reintroduced, expect hot debate.

"I think the broad approach toward election reform is that you want a system where there's the greatest possible integrity," Dovilla said. "There's nary a thing in society that you can do where you don't need to show ID of some sort."

Ensuring integrity of the ballot and creating a barrier to voter fraud is important, he said. "The onus, I think, is on those who oppose this."

Democrats are quick to counter. Requiring people to have an official ID creates a burden that can keep some, particularly poorer voters, from being able to vote, they say. They liken it to a tax on voting.

"We would have very serious concerns about such a proposal," said Rep. Kathleen Clyde a Kent Democrat and, a member of Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee.

"An ID requirement is kind of a veiled way of having a poll tax, where you're requiring people to pay to have a photo ID," Clyde said. Getting a state-approved ID could be a financial and logistical problem for the poor if they have to pay for documents needed to get an ID and have to find transportation to proper offices."

Dovilla suggested that the ID could be free for those found to be indigent. "We want to make sure people have access to this."

Clyde counters that people should not have to prove they are poor to be able to vote. "Is that the process we want for our elections?"

"There's no outrageous amount of fraud," she said. "It's just a ginned-up issue.

"You just get tired of beating back these non issues."

Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted did not support the photo ID requirement in the 2011 bill. His spokesman said Wednesday that Husted would not comment on the issue now until specific legislation is introduced.

Dovilla expects that likely would be soon.

"Election bills tend to move in the first year of a two-year session like this," he said. "You don't want to get into the guts of the election cycle and then have people from either side saying you're trying to move the goalposts."